Recollections of Dean Fremantle Author:William Henry Fremantle Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: By THE RIGHT REVEREND LUCIUS F. M. B. SMITH, D.D., BISHOP SUFFRAGAN OF K.NARESBOROUGH PREMANTLE was Dean of Ripon Cathedral for upwards of twenty years. He lo... more »ved his Cathedral, and amidst the many interests of his later life the care of that interesting and beautiful building had the first place. It seems to be one of the necessary duties of a dean to collect large sums of money for his Cathedral. Dean Fremantle did not shrink from the task. His work upon the structure was the repair of the clerestory in the nave, the stonework of which had become very much decayed. Then he had the carved oak choir seats placed in the nave. Twice he raised considerable sums of money for the repair and improvement of the organ. He provided a new clock to replace the old one, which was worn out, and in 1911 he had the exterior of the minster thoroughly repaired. Fremantle's preaching was intellectual, stimulating, spiritually quickening and very practical. He held firmly the substance of the great truths of the Christian faith, but always endeavoured to express them in the terms of modern thought. He sought to meet the intellectual difficulties of his hearers, and to present old truths in new lights. There were some who thought that he conceded too much to objectors, and he was sometimes misunderstood and called a heretic. But he was able to help many questioning souls to retain their faith and keep within the Church many who without his guidance would have drifted away from it. One of his publications was called "The Gospel of the Secular Life." The title may serve as a keynote to much of his teaching. He held that religion meant the faithful fulfilment of the common duties and tasks of life, and that all necessary and useful activities were to be regarded as acts of service and devotio...« less